Recently asked questions relating to Chelsea leasehold conveyancing
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Chelsea. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Chelsea - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
There are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Chelsea. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Chelsea.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Chelsea.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
It best that you pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Chelsea where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Chelsea conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Completion in due on our sale of a £225000 maisonette in Chelsea next week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Chelsea?
Chelsea conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily involves fees being levied by management companies :
- Answering pre-contract enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Chelsea
- Copies of the building insurance and schedule
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Chelsea conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chelsea conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Chelsea flat is 150A Albert Palace Mansions Lurline Gardens in July 2013. The Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the new lease of the subject property was £42,069 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 57.06 years.
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